TCIFA Hosts First Team Manager’s Course

Being a team manager is a huge, yet very rewarding responsibility. It’s not gender or age specific, and is designed to be relevant at all levels of the game, from recreation to competitive, and grassroots to senior teams. As the Turks & Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) continues to establish a more professional football environment, the Association hosted its first ever Team Manager’s Course at the TCIFA National Academy on Saturday, October 26th, 2019. The one-day course was lead by TCIFA’s General Secretary Oliver Smith, and TCI Men’s National Football Team Manager Haroon Swaby.

The course provided hands on approach with step-by-step instructions as to the role and responsibilities of a Team Manager in order to ensure a successful match/ tournament. Topics such as the dealing with professional players, team travel, hotel inspection, volunteer management, financial management, tournament rules/requirements, aspects of confidentiality and more were covered.

The role of the Team Manager is very critical to the success of a team. This individual acts as the go-between for the parents, players, coaches, and the Football Association, ensuring a successful management of the team and welfare of the players. Additionally a Team Manager is tasked with dealing with all off-field matters before, during and after a match/tournament.

A total of twenty-two persons completed the course. TCIFA General Secretary Oliver Smith commented on the course reflecting that “a Team Manager’s role is often not fully recognized and this course provided the forum within which to fully educate the participants as to the significance of this role. The attendees were fully engaged and we hope that the TCIFA will be able to retain the majority of these individuals to assist us as we seek to continue to grow and professionalize the sport of football in the TCI”.